Russia Ukraine war latest: Putin ‘creating new defences’ amid ‘growing concerns’ over counteroffensive

Poland has begun enforcing a European Union ban on all Russian-registered passenger cars seeking to enter the country, days after neighbouring Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia did the same.

The move is in line with a recent interpretation of the EU’s sanctions on Moscow. Announcing the imminent imposition of the ban on Saturday, Polish interior minister Mariusz Kaminski said: “A car registered in Russia has no right to enter Poland.

“This is another element of the sanctions imposed on Russia and its citizens in connection with the brutal war in Ukraine, due to the fact that the Russian state today constitutes a threat to international security.”

In addition to Kaliningrad, Poland has Belarus and Ukraine on its eastern borders. It is otherwise bordered by EU and Nato allies Germany, Slovakia, Czechia and Lithuania, where there are no border checks.

The Border Guard’s website said Russian-tagged cars “will be returned to the non-EU country from which they came, regardless of whether it is Russia or another country”. It added: “Such actions will be carried out even if the driver of the car is not a citizen of the Russian Federation.”

Foreign secretary James Cleverly has said Boris Johnson was “wrong” to say the UK has not moved fast enough on support for Ukraine.

Listing the UK’s support, he said: “During my time as foreign secretary under Rishi Sunak as prime minister, we were the first in the world to commit main battle tanks.

“Other countries in the world then followed our example. We were the first to commit to the training of fast jet pilots. Then other countries followed our example.

“We were the first to commit … to those long-range missiles that have been instrumental in helping the Ukrainians in their battle in the south and the south-east of Ukraine.

“I take his comments seriously, but I’ve just given you evidence the fact is that he’s wrong on this issue, because we continue to take the lead on the battle-winning equipment that the Ukrainians have specifically asked for,” he told Sky News.

Kim Jong Un is on board a train bound for North Korea, wrapping up his days-long visit to Russia, state news agencies have reported.

It departed from the railway station in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Artyom, and was travelling to Khasan station on Russia’s border with North Korea – a distance of more than 200 kilometres.

Footage published by Russia’s state-run RIA news agency showed Mr Kim walking along a red carpet to the train carriage to the music of a military band and waving goodbye.

Russian natural resources minister Alexander Kozlov, Moscow’s ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, and the governor of the Primorye region, Oleg Kozhemyako, saw off the North Korean leader, RIA reported.

Earlier, Russian media said Mr Kim and Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu had discussed practical issues to boost military cooperation, in what Pyongyang called a “fresh heyday” for bilateral relations.

A grain silo and agricultural fields were damaged in a Russian drone and missile barrage early this morning, Odesa’s regional governor has said.

“Fortunately, there were no casualties,” Odesa governor Oleh Kiper said of the strikes in the Berezivsky district in the eastern part of the region.

With the entire territory of Ukraine under air raid alerts for several hours, Ukraine’s Air Force claimed to have shot down six Iranian-made Shahed drones and six cruise missiles, with a further four of the latter slipping through their defences.

“Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, mobile fire groups and other means of attack were involved in repelling the air attack,” the Air Force said.

Armenia has sent “proposals” to Russia on its plans to come under the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, Russian state news outlets have claimed.

Relations between the traditional allies have frayed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Moscow has warned of “serious consequences” if Yerevan presses ahead with the plans, after the court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes.

The warrant, concerning the forcible transfer of thousands of children from Ukraine to Russia, obliges the court’s 123 member states to detain and transfer Putin if he sets foot on their territory.

The ambassador-at-large of Armenia’s foreign ministry, Edmon Marukyan, said Yereven has sent “proposals” on the issue to Moscow, Tass reported. “A meeting was held and the process is underway,” it quoted him as saying.

Mr Marukyan said Armenia’s plan to become a party to the Rome Statute, bringing it under the international court’s remit, was “not against the Russian Federation but because of war crimes committed on territory of the Republic of Armenia by the Azerbaijani side”, Tass reported.

“Our Russian partners are well aware of this.”

Russia launched a combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine early this morning, largely targeting the southern parts of Odesa and hitting an agriculture facility there, Ukraine’s Air Forces said.

Russia used six Iranian-made Shahed drones and 10 cruise missiles in the attack, with Ukraine’s forces destroying six drones and six missiles before they hit their target, Kyiv’s troops claimed.

The situation in Odesa and its ports has been watched carefully by grain markets, as Kyiv said on Saturday that two cargo vessels arrived there to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets.

“Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, mobile fire groups and other means of attack were involved in repelling the air attack,” the Air Force said.

The extent of the damage was not immediately known and it was not clear what facility was hit. The Air Force said only that emergency services were on the site. The entire territory of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for several hours.

Ukraine has released footage of troops moving through a war-ravaged settlement in the Donetsk Oblast after Kyiv announced its recapture.

Video published by Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade showed troops moving through rubble in Andriivka, 6 miles (10km) south of the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut after three months of intense fighting.

The clip also shows soldiers taking cover behind a broken wall amid mortar fire.

Following Ukraine’s breach of Russia’s heavily mined and fortified front line near the Zaporizhzhia village of Robotyne, Vladimir Putin’s troops have likely been creating new defences in the area, with nearby Tokmak set to become a “lynchpin” of their second line, Britains Ministry of Defence has said.

“In recent days, Russian forces have likely reinforced their defences around the occupied town of Tokmak in southern Ukraine, which is approximately 16 km behind the current front line,” the ministry said.

“Russia is likely deploying additional checkpoints, ‘hedgehog’ anti-tank defences and digging new trenches in the area, which is held by its 58th Combined Arms Army.

“Tokmak is preparing to become a lynchpin of Russian’s second main line of defences. Improvements to the town’s defences likely indicates Russia’s growing concern about Ukrainian tactical penetrations of the first main defensive line to the north.”

The UK has formally banned Russia‘s mercenary Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation weeks after the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The government order, approved on Friday, makes it a criminal offence to be a member or a supporter of the paramilitary group in the UK.

“The Russian mercenary organisation, Wagner Group, has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation today after an order was laid in Parliament on Wednesday September 6,” the Home Office said in a statement.

Two cargo boats arrived in Ukraine on Saturday, Ukrainian port authorities said, the first ships to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets.

Ukraine last month announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to release ships trapped in its ports since the start of the war in February 2022 and to circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal to let Kyiv export grain.

Five vessels have so far left the port of Odesa, using the corridor which hugs the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.

Ukraine, a leading global food producer and exporter, also wants to use the corridor for its food exports. The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, in a post on Facebook, said the bulk carriers “Resilient Africa” and “Aroyat” had arrived in the port of Chernomorsk.